City asset manager M&G said today that its voluntary redundancy programme received more than the 200 applicants it targeted and pledged to continue with plans to “streamline” the business.
It also reported net client inflows of £400 million for the first quarter of the year and assets under management and administration of £342 billion, up £2 billion. It said much of the growth came from the UK market, “ending a long period of subdued performance”.
The inflows also came despite redemptions triggered by what the company called the “mini-Budget crisis” in September during Liz Truss’s short-lived government, which M&G said today it had “absorbed”.
Layoffs at the FTSE 100 company, which employs around 5,000 people, were announced in March and targeted annual cost savings of around £200 million. It said the current redundancy scheme was “closed”, with the “majority of exits” expected in the fourth quarter of this year and the first quarter of 2024.
M&G said today it was “continuing to identify opportunities to streamline the business and achieve our cost saving target while delivering better outcomes to our clients and colleagues”.
The company is also looking at its property needs, saying it is “right sizing our office footprint”. Having rented out some surplus office space, its review will continue in the second half of the year.
M&G was spun out of the Prudential in 2020, when its parent doubled down on a renewed focus on Asian markets. There were rumours across the City earlier this year that the Australian financial services giant Macquarie was interested in bidding for it, and M&G was also linked with a potential bid from Schroders for its investment division.
At the time, its chief executive, Andrea Rossi, called such reports “market speculation” and he was focused on “organic growth” for M&G.
Today, he said: “I’m both confident and excited about the prospects for M&G … I am enthused by the progress to date and remain focused on delivering operational efficiencies.”
Shares in the company slipped 1p to 203p.
Richard Hunter at Interactive Investor said: “The sector in which M&G operates is increasingly competitive and the group has its work cut out to achieve its golden aim of increasing funds under management”
